Printing-machine.



1. s. D UNC-ANY.

PRINTING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED NOV- I7. 1913.

Patented Nov. 6, 1917.

5 SHEETSSHEET 1- 4 a ala u J.S.DUNCAN. PRINTING MACHINE.

APPklCATION FILED NOV- 17. l9l3.

1 ,245,207. Patented Nov. 6, 1917.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2- J. S. DUNCAN.

PRINTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV-17.1913.

Patented N (W. 6, 1917.

5 ariEETS-SHEFT 3.

Mzcaaaear I. S. DUNCAN.

PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. n, 1913.

Patented Nov. 6, 1917.

lllll J. S. DUNCAN.

PRINTI NG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11. ms.

Patented NOV. 6, 1917.

a SHEETSSHEET 5.

17244372507 WWW! Sci/Hi h UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

JOSEPH S. DUNCAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 ADDRESSOGRAPI-ICOMPANY,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

YRINTING-MACHIN'E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 6, 1917.

Application filed November 17, 1913. Serial No. 801,325.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrrr S. DUNCAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My present invention relates in general to printing machines and hasmore particular reference to machines adapted for printing form lettersin simulation of typewritten letters and for providing each letter withan address and Salutation arranged in proper relation to the body of theletter.

Qne of the primary objects of this invention is the provision of amachine of this general character which shall embody simple andeflicient mechanism for transferring an address form, bearing an addressand a Salutation, from a magazine to the bed at each reciprocationthereof, for positioning and holding such transferred address form onthe bed in proper relation to the letter form which prints the body ofthe letter and for removing the address form from the bed at theopposite end of the bed stroke and transferring the removed form to asuitable receptacle such as a tray wherein the address forms are stackedafter they have passed in succession through the machine.

Another object is to provide a form bed of novel construction adapted torigidly sup port the address form during the printing operation and tofacilitate the positioning of an address form on the bed and the removalof the form therefrom.

Still another object is the provision of a machine in which the inkingribbon, through which the impressions are taken, will be carried by thereciprocatory bed and fed across the bed at each reciprocation thereofby feeding mechanism which is stationarily mounted so that it is notrequired to travel with the bed.

Another object is the provision of novel mountings for the impressioncylinder, by means of which said cylinder maybe thrown into inoperativeposition whenever it may be desireable to skip one or more impressions.

The manner in which these and other objects of the present invention areaccomplished will be made clear by the following descriptionandfaccompanying drawings of one form of meansfor, carrying the nven-Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, looking.

at the near-side of the machine disclosed in Fig. 1; 4

Fig. 3 is an end elevation, looking toward the right in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is an end View, looking at the op posite end of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line55 of Fig.

. 1, the gear wheel for driving the crank arm which would not beincluded in this View, being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 6 is a similar View on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing some of the partsillustrated in Fig. 6 in another position.

On the drawings reference character 8 designates generally the mainframe of the machine, which is suitably shaped and pro portioned tocarry the mechanisms which adapt the machine to the performance of itsvarious functions. The bed 9, which is adapted to carry the letter formand an ad dress form, is mounted to reciprocate longi' tudinally of themachine upon suitable guide rollers 11 carried by rigid arms of variousI The address forms 14 (Fig. 1) are prefer-' ably formed of sheet metal,having the address and the salutation corresponding thereto struck upfrom the body of the metal. The forms may be provided with one or moreindex tabs 15 if desired, secured thereto in the usual manner. Since thedetailed construction of the letter form and address form are notessentially involved in the present invention I have illustrated theseforms diagramatically only, such illustration being consideredsufiicient for l i; i)

an understanding of my present invention. The address forms arecontained in a magazine 16 disposed at one side of the path of travel ofthe reciproeatory bed and at each reciprocation of the bed the lowermostform in the magazine is transferred from the magazine to printingposition on the bed adjacent to the letter form.

The mechanism for transferring the ad dress forms'from the magazine tothe bed comprises a pair of guides 17 disposed beneath the magazine andextending inwardly approximately to the adjacent edge of the bed. Aforked slide 18 is adapted to travel back and forth on said guides topush the lowermost address form from the magazine along the guides tothe bed, the rear end of the slide being adapted to support theremaining forms in the magazine during the transferring operation. Theforks of the slide are connected together by a framework 19, which bymeans of a forked link 21 is pivotally connected with an operating lever22 mounted to oscillate on a shaft 23 fixed near the bottom of the mainframe of the machine. A second lever 24, also pivoted on shaft 23,carries at its upper end a follower 25 which is engaged in a cam groove26 formed on the periphery of a drum 27 fixedly mounted on thetransversely extending shaft 28. Levers 22 and 24 are rigidly connectedtogether by means of a web 29 so that when the lever 24 is oscillatedupon rotation of the drum 27 the lever 2:2 is actuated to reciprocatethe slide 18 and transfer an address form from the magazine onto thebed.

The mechanism for reciprocating the bed, which will be later described,is so timed with respect to the operation of the transferring slide thatan address form is moved onto the bed as the bed approaches the limit ofits travel to the left, viewing Figs. 1 and 2, upon its return stroke.The movement of the slide 18 is such that the address form is broughtinto contiguous relation with the head end of the letter form and theaddress form is held in proper position with respect to the letter formduring the printing operation by means of a member or holding device 31(Figs. 1, 6 and 7) pivoted at its rear end to the bed on a pivot pin 32and extending forwardly approximately in the plane of the upper surfaceof the bed. The front end of the holding device is slightly inclinedupwardly as indicated at 33 and is provided with a groove 34 adapted toreceive the rear end of the address form, whereby said form is held inposition. It will be observed that the device 31 is prevented fromexcessive movement by a pin 35 projecting from the device into anenlarged opening 36 formed in the frame of the bed.

As thebed approaches the end of its move-- ment upon its return strokean address form is moved by the transferring slides into juxtapositionto the letter form and over the holding device 31. As the bed continuesits rearward travel the holding device moves out from beneath the formso that the rear edge of the form drops down in front of the forward endof the device. Upon the forward or printing stroke of the bed the rearend of the form is engaged in the groove 34, so that the form is causedto travel with the bed and is held in proper relation to the letter formduring the printing operation.

The impressions are taken from the letter and address formssimultaneously through an inking ribbon, by means of a rotatable papercarrying impression cylinder 37 having a high portion 38 (Fig. 5)adapted to cooperate with the printing forms upon the forward stroke ofthe bed. The bed is supported immediately beneath the impressioncylinder by radial flanges or rollers 39 on the shaft 28, thus affordinga rigid support directly beneath the impression cylinder. At one sidethe bed is provided with a downwardly disposed rack-bar 41 beneath whichon the shaft 28 is mounted a segmental gear 42 adapted to mesh with saidrack and propel the bed forwardly at a uniform speed during the printingoperation. It might be mentioned at this point that the shaft 28 is themain shaft of the machine, from which the other mechanisms are driven,said main shaft receiving its power from any suitable source.

After the bed has completed its printing stroke it is desirable that itbe returned at a relatively high speed, and for the purpose of effectingthis return stroke and initiating the printing stroke at the requisitespeed I have provided a bed-moving mechanism as follows:

A stub-shaft 43 mounted in the main frame of the machine is continuouslydriven by means of a gear wheel 44 mounted thereon, which meshes with anidler 45, driven from a gear 46 fixed on the shaft 28. The gears 44 and45 lie outside the planes upon which the sectional views shown in Figs.5 and 6 are taken, but these gears are shown in dotted lines in thesefigures for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the bedoperating mechanism. Upon the inner end of shaft 43 is fixed a crank arm47, provided at its outer end with a roller 48. A lever 49 pivoted on atransversely extending shaft 51 is provided on its outer face with agrooved track as indicated at 52 (Fig. 5) adapted to receive the roller48. A pair of levers 53, also pivoted on shaft 51, are rigidly connectedwith the lever 49 by means of a web 54 so that the levers 53 areactuated directly from lever 49. The upper ends of levers 53 areconnected by links 55 with the sides of the bed 9. The shaft 43 iscontinu- Ously rotated in a clockwise direction viewing Fig. 5, and inthis figure the bed is shown at the extremity of its return stroke. Asthe shaft continues to rotate the arm 49 will be swung about its pivottoward the right by the crank arm 47 until the roller 48 travels out ofthe upper end of the track 52. Before this point is reached, however,the segmental gear 42 will have rotated sufficiently to mesh with therack 41 so that the bed will be propelled from the segmental gear solong as the gear is in mesh therewith.v It will be observed that theupper end of the track 52 is cut off at an incline to permit the track52 to leave the roller 48 when the segmental gear assumes control of thebed. In order that the gear 42 will properly mesh with the rack 41 Iprefer to provide the gear with an inwardly extending pin 56, adaptedupon rotation of the gear to engage with an abutment 57 on the bed.whereby the segmental gear and rack are brought into proper register.\Vhen the bed has been propelled to the end of its printing stroke bythe segmental gear the parts will have assumed the position indicated inFig. 6 and the upper end of track 52 will be positioned to receive theroller 48, which first moves the bed forwardly a short distance beyondthe point at which it was left by the segmental gear and then returnsthe bed to the other extremity of its movement the return movement beingeffected with considerable rapidity because of the proximity of theroller 48 to the pivoted shaft 51 of the lever arm 49. It will bemanifest from the foregoing that the initial printing stroke of the bedis instigated through the crank arm47, that during the printingoperation the bed is propelled at a uniform speed from the segmentalgear 42, and that the final completion of the forward movement ofthe'bed and the complete re turn movement of the bed are eflected by thecrank arm.

The impression cylinder 37 is mounted to rotate on a shaft 58 and iscontinuously driven by means of a. gear wheel 59 fixed to one end of thecylinder and in turn actuated from the gear 46 through the idlers 61 and62. The gear 61 is mounted concentrically with and rigidly connected toa stripperroller 63, which removes the paper from the impressioncylinder in the usual manner,

and the paper is delivered from the stripper roll between rolls 64 and65 against the lower face of a guide 66, from whence the paper isdischarged onto a table or rack of any preferred construction (notshown). Rolls 64 and 65 are so situated with respect to the stripperroll that the paper will be directed between rolls 64 and 65 and will begripped thereby.- Roll 64 is equipped with a gear 67 which is drivenfrom the gear 61 through an idler 68, and the roll 65 is fric-- tionallydriven from-the roll 64. The paper is presented to the impressioncylinder from a table 69 and is gripped and held to the cylinder bygrippers 71 operated by any suitable mechanism. The shaft 58, upon whichthe impression cylinder loosely turns, is provided at each end with aneccentric portion 72 supported in the main frame of the machine. For thepurpose of elevating the cylinder out of operative relation with the bedwhenever it may be desirable to skip an impression I have fixedlymounted on one of the eccentric projections 72 a lever 73 which isnormally held in the position shown in Fig. 2 by means of a latch 74pivoted on the main frame at 75 and urged into engagement with the shankof an operating handle 76 by means of an expansion spring 77. When thelatch is manually released from the handle the lever 73 is rocked toturn the shaft in a clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 2, by means of acontraction spring 78 fixed at one end to the main frame of the machineand at its other end to the forward end of lever 73. Rotation of theshaft 58 about the eccentric projection 72 will lift the impressioncylinder out operative position, the limit of movement of the lever 73being determined by a pin 79 against which a shoulder on the lever 73abuts. To throw the cylinder into operative relation again the handle 76is depressed until the latch 74 is engaged therewith.

The impression is taken from the printing forms on the paper carried bythe impression cylinder through an inking ribbon 81 extendingtransversely of the bed and carried by ribbon rolls 82 and 83respectively mounted in suitable extensions on opposite sides of thebed. The ribbon is therefore carried back and forth by the bed in itsreciprocatory movements and is at all times disposed over the letter andaddress forms. For the purpose of feeding the ribbon from one roll tothe other I have provided mechanism which is mounted on the main frameof the machine and adapted to engage with the ratchet wheel 84 of theribbon roll at the forward end of the bed which, as will be apparentfrom the drawings, is mounted beneath the plane of the ribbon whentraversing the bed, while the other roll is mounted above the plane ofthe ribbon. On-the frame of the machine at the rear I have mounted anoperating lever 85 on a stub shaft 86 concentrically with the ribbonroll 82, and this lever has pivoted thereon at 87 a dog 88 adapted toengagewith the ratchet wheel 84 and intermittently actuate the ribbonroll upon oscillation of the lever 85. A contraction spring 80 fixed at90 to the main frame of the machine and at 89 to the lever 85 normallyholds saidlever against abutment 91, as shown in Fig. 3. At the lowerend of the lever 85 I have pivotally mounted at 92 a dog 93 which isnormally held in the position shown in Fig. 3 by a contraction spring94. A lever 95 pivoted on the main frame at 96 is provided with a pin orroller which engages with dog 93 when the lever is swung to the right,viewing Fig. 3, to thereby swing lever 85 to the right. This movement ofthe lever 95 is accomplished from a lever 97 pivoted on the shaft 23 andrigidly connected with the operating lever 22 by a web or casting 98, sothat lever 97 is oscillated simultaneously with lever 22. A link 99connects the upper end of lever 97 with the upper end of lever 95 sothat lever 95 is oscillated at each oscillation of lever 97 The partsare so proportioned and timed that the arm 85 will be swung toward theright as the bed approaches the end of its return stroke, and for thepurpose of withdrawing the dog 88 from the path of the ribbon rollratchet 84 I have mounted an inclined pin or cam 101 in the path of thetail of the dog, whereby the dog is oscillated on its pivot to withdrawits operating finger or head from the path of the ratchet wheel. \Vhenthe bed has reached the limit of its return stroke the ratchet wheelwill be in alinement with and above the dog 88. At this time the pin orroller carried by the lever 95 travels 01f from the end of the pivotalfinger 93, whereupon arm 85 is drawn toward the left, viewing Fig.3, bythe spring 80 and as the tail of the dog 85 travels off from the pin10.1 the dog engages with the ratchet wheel 84 and imparts a partialrotation to the ribbon roll to feed the ribbon across the bed at eachreciprocation of the bed, and when the ribbon is entirely wound on roll82 the rolls may be removed from their bearings and interchanged. Uponreturn movement of the lever 95 the finger 93 swings on its pivotagainst the force of spring 94, thereby ,permitting return movement oflever 95 without afiecting the arm 85.

The address forms which will be commonly used in connection with thismachine, have an elevated portion upon which the printing characters arestamped up. It is of course essential that the address forms besupported during the printing operation immediately beneath thecharacters, and to afford a rigid support and at the same timefacilitate the positioning of the address forms on the bed and theirremoval therefrom I have so constructed the bed that the address formsupporting portion is movable up and down relatively to the body of thebed. I The address form supporting portion 102 of the bed is thereforepivotally mounted on the main portion of the bed at 103, and the drumwhich ise uipped with flanges or rollers 39 to support t e bedimmediately beneath the impression cylinder is also provided with aflange or roller 104 which has an elevated portion 105, as best seen inFigs.

5 and 6. This elevated portion is so arranged that it will engagebeneath the address form supporting portion 102 during the printingoperation only and will travel from beneath the portion 102 before thebed reaches the extremity of its forward or printing stroke, thuspermitting the portion 102 to drop downwardly onto the low portion ofroller 104. The bed portion 102 remains in its depressed position uponthe return stroke of the bed and during the positioning of a new addressform thereon and is not elevated again into engagement with the addressform until just prior to the passage of the address form beneath theimpression cylinder. A rigid support for the address form immediatelybeneath the printing characters is thereby afforded during the printingoperation and the support is depressed relatively to the remainder ofthe bed during the positioning of an address form thereon and theremoval of the form therefrom.'

For the purpose of removing the address form from the bed at the end ofthe printing stroke I have provided mechanism which will now bedescribed. At the end of the machine, in the path of the address form.carried by the bed, I have pivotally mounted upon the main frame of themachine between lugs 106 a plate or finger 107, the downwardlyprojecting end of which is yieldingly urged toward the oncoming addressform by expansion'spring's 108. Upon the main frame of the machine Ihave provided an upwardly extending head 109 disposed in the path of thebed, the bed being provided with an elongated slot 111, as indicated inFig. 1, to accommodate said head as the bed approaches the end of itsprinting stroke. This head carries at its upper end a ivotally mountedfinger 112 which is norma 1y urged upwardlyinto the position shown 1nFig? 6 and 7 by an expansion sprin 113. he end of the finger is alsoprovi ed with a groove 114 similar to the groove 34 in the holdingdevice 31. As the ed approaches the end of its printing stroke theaddress form travels over the finger 112 into engagement with the plate107 which is also grooved to receive and engage with the forward end ofthe form. When the form has passed the head 109 the finger 112 iselevated by the spring 113 to engage with the rear end of the form. Theaddress form is thereby held at each end between the plate 107 and thefinger 112. The form support ing portion 102 of the bed is thereupondepressed and upon the return stroke ofithe bed this portiontravels'out' from under the address form, leaving the form suspendedbetween plate 107' and finger 112 at the for- "ward end of the machine.

For the purpose of transferring the removed address form to a tray orother suitform container 115 of any preferred construction, thecontainer or tray being preferably supported in inclined position, asshown, by well known mechanism. A curved guide 116 is pivotally mountedat 117 and is normally disposed in the inoperative position shown inFig. 4 with the receiving end 118 of the guide beneath the path oftravel of the bed. The guide casting is provided beneath the pivot withan arm 119, to the extremity of which is pivoted at 121 a transferringlever l22 equipped at its other end with a transferring head 123 whichis adapted to travel along the guide 116, the lever 122 being mountedconcentrically with the guide. The guide casting is also extended beyondthe receiving end 1180f the guide and is provided With a downwardlyprojecting cam shaped arm 124 disposed in the path of travel of a roller125 carried by the arm 24 in front of the cam follower 25. When the arm24 is swung to the left by the cam groove 26 in the drum 27 the roller125 engages with the inclinedsurface of the cam arm 124 and elevates theguide 116, and with it the transferring lever 122 into alinement with aremoved address form suspended between the plate 107 and the finger 112.Continued movement of the arm 24 to the left, viewing Fig. 4, will movethe lever 122 to the left about its pivot 121, through theinstrumentality of a link 126 pivoted at one end to the arm 124,provided with a slot 127 which is engaged with a pin 128 on the lever122. After the guide has been raised, as above described, continuedmovement of the lever 24 to the left will bring the inner end of theslot 127 into engagement with the pin 128 to thereby swin lever 122about its pivot along the guide 11 to transfer the address form fromsuspended position between the plate 107 and finger 112 along the curvedguide 116 into the upper end of the tray 115. A packer arm 129 pivotedat 131 extends into the tray adjacent the delivery end of thetransferring guide and is provided with an arm 132 carrying a roller'133which engages with a cam surface 134 on the side of the contiguousroller or flange 39 to swing the arm 129 to the right, viewing Fig. 4,about its pivot and thereby push the delivered address forms downwardlyin the tray. A contraction sprlng 134 attached at one end to a pin 135on the rigid arm 136 which supports the transferring mechanism and atits other end to the arm 129 returns the arm to normal position aftereach actuation thereof.

From the foregoing it will be understood that I have provideda printingmachine adapted to print form letters in close simulation of typewritingand to provide each letter with a difierent address and salutation. Theaddress forms are transferred from a magazine to the bed of the machineupon the return stroke of the bed, a section of the bed is elevated toform a rigid support for the address form during the printing operation,the address form is removed from the bed at the completion of theprinting stroke and upon return movement of the bed from beneath theaddress form this form is transferred to a tray or other suitablecontainer in which the forms are packed.

It is believed that my invention and its mode of operation will besufficiently understood from the foregoing without further description,and it will be obvious that the mechanical details illustrated anddescribed are capable of considerable variation and modification withinthe purview of my invention and without departing from the true-scope ofthe invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bed adaptedto carry a printing form normally secured thereto and a printing formchangeable after each printing operation, means for taking an impressionfrom said printing forms during the movement of the bed in onedirection,

a magazine to hold a supply of changeable printing forms disposed at oneside of the path of travel of said bed, means movable in substantiallythe plane of said reciprocatory bed and in a direction normal to thedirection of movement thereof for-transferring a printing form from saidmagazine to said bed before the printing operation, and means forremoving the changeable printing form from said bed at the conclusion ofthe printing operation.

2. In a printing machine the combination of areciprocatory bed adaptedto carry a letter form and an address form, a magazine located at oneside of said bed and adapted to contain a supply of address forms, meanson said bed for holding an address form in operative position on thebed, a slide movable transversely of the bed for transferring an addressform from the magazine to the bed at each cycle of reciprocation of thebed, and means for removing the address form from said. bed at theconclusion of the printing operation.

3. In a printing machine the combination of a reciprocatory bed adaptedto carry a letter form and an address form, means for taking animpression from said forms during theprinting stroke of said bed, amagazine adapted to contain a suppl of address forms mounted on one side0 the path of said bed, guideways extending from said magazinetransversely of the bed, a slide for transferring address forms fromsaid magazine along said guideways to the bed, means for operating saidslide to transfer an address form to the bed as said bed ap' proachesthe limit of its return movement, and means for removing the addressform from said bed at the conclusion of the printing operation.

t. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bed adaptedto carry a letter form and an address form, means for supporting saidbed, a magazine located at one side of the bed, means movable insubstantially the plane of said bed and in a direction normal to thedirection of movement thereof for transferring an address form from themagazine to said bed as the bed approaches the limit of its travel inone direction, and means for removing said address form from the bedwhen the bed reaches the end of its stroke in the other direction.

5. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bed adaptedto carry a letter form and an address form, means movable in a directionnormal to the direction of movement of said bed for position? ing anaddress form on said bed when said bed is substantially at the end ofits stroke, means in said bed for holding an address form in operativeposition thereon, and means for removing an address form from said bedwhen said bed is substantially at the other end of its stroke.

6. In a printing machine the combination of a bed adapted to carry aletter form and an address form, means for reciprocating said bed, aholding device pivotally mounted on the bed to hold an address form onthe bed in predetermined relation to said letter form, and slidablemeans for transferring an address form laterally into position on thebed when the bed is approximately at the end of its travel inonedirection.

7. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bed adaptedto carry a letter form and an address form, slidable means movable in adirection normal to the direction of movement of said bed forpositioning an address form on said bed when it is substantially at oneend of its stroke, and a device yieldingly mounted on said bed inposition to engage one end of the address form and hold said form inproper relation to said letter form.

8. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bed adaptedto carry a letter form and an address form, means for taking animpression from said forms during the movement of the bed in onedirection, slidable means movable in a direction normal to the directionofmovement of said bed for positioning an address form on said bed,means carried by said bed for holding the address form thereon duringthe printing stroke of the bed, and means adapted to engage said addressform when the bed is substantially at the end of its printing stroke toprevent the return of the address form with said bed.

9. In a printing machine the combination of a reciprocatory bed,slidable means for positioning an address form thereon, means for takingan impression therefrom, means on the bed for holding said address formin position during the printing stroke of the bed, and means forengaging said address form when the bed is approximately at the end ofits printing stroke and removing said form from the bed.

10. In a printing machine the combination of a reciprocatory bed, meansfor positioning an address form thereon, means for taking an impressiontherefrom, and means comprising a yielding abutment and a cooperatingholding finger, adapted to engage said address form as the bedapproaches the end of its printing stroke, said means being constructedto retain said -address form when the bed returns, and mechanism fortransferring said address form from said retaining means to an addressform receiving receptacle. v

11. In a printing machine the combination of a reciprocatory bed,mechanism for positioning an address form on said bed at one end of thebed stroke, and means for removing said form from the bed at the otherend of the bed stroke, said means comp rising an engaging plate orbuffer yieldingly mounted in the path of travel of said form and apivoted device over Which said address form travels, said device beingadapted to engage with the rear end of the form as said form passesthereover and in conjunction with said plate to hold said form andprevent its return with the bed.

12. In a printing machine the combination of a reciprocatory bed, meansmounted thereon for holding an address form in predetermined position onthe bed, means for taking an impression therefrom, means in cludin ayielding buffer and a pivoted device adapted to remove said address formfrom the bed at the end of the printing stroke, and mechanism fortransferring said address form from said removing means to a container.

13. In a printing machine the combination of a reciprocatory bedincluding a yieldingly mounted section adapted to support an addressform, means movable in a direction normal to the direction of movementof said bed for positioning an address form. upon said section as thebed approaches the end of its movement in one direction, means fortaking an impression from said form during its movement in the oppositedirection, means for holding an address form in position on said sectionof the bed during the printing stroke thereof, means for rigidlysustaining said yieldingly mounted section to provide a rigid supportfor the address form during the printing operation, and means forremoving said address form from the bed at the end of the printingstroke.

14. In a printing machine the combination of a reciprocatory bedcomprising a pivotally mounted section, means for positioning an addressform on said section at the end of the movement of said bed in onedirection, means for taking an impression from said form during themovement of said bed in the opposite direction, yieldingly mounted meansfor holding said address form in printing position, means for elevatingsaid pivoted section beneath the address form to rigidly support saidform during the printing operation, and permitting the retraction ofsaid section during the interim between printing operations, and meansfor removing said address form from the bed at the end of the printingstroke.

15. In a rinting machine the combination of a reciprocatory bed adaptedto carry an address form and comprising a pivotally mounted address formsupporting section, means for elevating said section at prede-L terminedintervals into engagement with said address form, a yielding fingermounted in the path of travel of said bed, permitting the address formto pass thereover and adapted to engage the rear edge of the form aftersaid form has passed the finger, and means cooperating with said fingerto support said form and permit withdrawal of the bed therefrom.

16. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bedadapted to carry a letter form and an address form, slidable meansmovable in a direction normal to the movement of said bed forpositioning an address form on said bed at one end of the bed stroke,means for removing said form from said bed at the other end of itsstroke, and means comprising an oscillatory member for transferring saidremoved form to a tray.

17. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bed, meansmovable in a direction normal to the direction of movement of said bedfor positioning an address form thereon at one end of the bed stroke,means for removing said form therefrom at the other end of the bedstroke, and means comprising a guide and oscillatory transferring armfor transferring said removed form to a tray.

18. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bedadapted to carry an address form and a letter form, means for removingthe address form therefrom at the end of the printing stroke, a curved63 guide, an oscillatory transferrin arm, means for moving one end ofsaid guide and said transferring arm into alinemeut with said removedform, and means for actuating said transferring arm to transfer theremoved form along said guide ti. :1 suitable receptacle.

19. In a printing machine the combinationof a reciprocatory bed adaptedto carry a letter form and an address form, means for removing saidaddress form from the bed and supporting the same to permit withdrawalof the bed from beneath the form, a pivotally mounted guide providedwith a cam, a transferring device pivotally attached to the guide, meansfor engaging said cam to elevate the guide and transferring device intoalinement with said supported form, and means for actuating saidtransferring device to transfer said form along the guide to a suitablereceptacle.

20. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bedadapted to carry a letter form and an address form, means movable insubstantially the plane of said bed'and in a direction normal to thedirection of movement thereof for transferring an address form from themagazine into predetermined position on said bed when the bed is at oneend of its stroke, means for moving said address form from the bed atthe other end of its stroke, means for transferrin said removed form toa suitable receptac e, and means for operating said transferring means.

21. In a printing machine the combination of a reciprocatory bedcomprising a rigid portion adapted to support a letter form and aportion movably mounted on said rigid portion and adapted to provide asupport for an address form, means for intermittently elevating saidmovable portion into operative position, a magazine mounted at one sideof the path of travel of said bed, mechanism for transferring an addressform from said magazine to said bed at each cycle of reciprocation ofthe bed, means for removing an address form from the bed at each cycleof reciprocation of the bed, and mechanism for transferring said removedform to a suitable receptacle.

22. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bedcomprising a rigid portion adapted to support a letter form and aportion pivotally mounted thereon adapted to support an address form,means for maintaining the rigid portion of the bed in a fixed planeduring its reciprocatory movements, means for causing the pivotedportion to be alternately elevated and depressed during thetravel of thebed, means for positioning an address form over the pivoted portion ofthe bed at one end of the bed stroke, and means for removing saidaddress form from the bed at the other end of the bed stroke.

23. In a, printin machine, the combination of a member a apted tosupport a printing form normally secured thereto and a printing formchangeable after each printing operation, an impression member, meansfor reciprocating one of said members relatively to the other, amagazine located at one side of the path of the reciprocating member,means movable in substantially the plane of said reciprocating memberand in a direction normal to the direction of movement thereof fortransferring a changeable printing form from said magazine to the memberadapted to support said printing form before the printing operation, andmeans for removing the changeable printing form from said bed at theconclusion of the printing operation.

524. In a printing machine, the combination of a reciprocatory bedadapted to support a letter form and an address form, a magazine locatedat one side of said bed and adapted to contain a supply of addressforms, means on said bed for holding an address form in operativeposition thereon, means movable transversely of said bed fortransferring an address form from said magazine to said bed at eachcycle of reciprocation, and means for removing the address form fromsaid bed at the conclusion of the printing operation.

25. In a printing machine, the combination of a member adapted tosupport a printing form normally secured thereto and a printing formchangeable after each printing operation, an impression member, meansfor reciprocating one of said members relatively to the other, amagazine located at one side of said bed and adapted to contain a supplyof said changeable forms, means on said printing form supporting memberfor holding a changeable form in operative position thereon, meansmovable transversely of said printing form supporting member fortransferring a changeable form from said magazine to said printing formsupporting member at each cycle of reciprocation, and means for removingthe changeable printing form from said bed at the conclusion of theprinting operation.

26. In a printing machine, the combination of a bed, means forreciprocating said bed, a rotatable impression cylinder above the bed,an inking ribbon carried by the bed and extending transversely acrosssaid bed, mechanism for transferring an address form into printingposition on said bed, means on the bed for holding said address form inprinting position, means positioned at the end of the printing stroke ofsaid bed for removing said address form from the bed, a movable supporton said bed beneath the printing position of the address form, means forraising said support into engagement with the address form during theprinting operation, and mechanism for transferring said removed formfrom said removing means to a receptacle.

JOSEPH S. DUNCAN. W'itnesses:

W'M. O. BELT, M. A. KIDDIE.

